Green People
by JohnBarleycorn
Summary: Milestones in the lives of my favorite nuWho characters: Madame Vastra and Jenny Flint. The Doctor makes appearances, but his regeneration is intentionally unclear because this is not his story. Rated M because of a love scene with a prehistoric predator, which includes consensual erotic pain. There is indirect reference to sexual trauma Jenny suffered before the story began.
1. Chapter 1: Not So Little

**I. Not So Little**

Far away, her hand was burning. She felt the warmth calmly, as if through an entertainment screen, her haptic view of someone else's hand. Only when the fire reached the bones in her left palm did she wake up, screaming.

She rolled away from the fire by instinct, stiffly, for she had not moved in a very long time. She could hear the flames roaring now, and feel the heat beat her eyes, but she could also see another form of light as she turned - a cooler, yellow light that did not flicker. She staggered toward it, as the flames melted the bed she had slept in for more than ten thousand years.

"Oh my God, there are people down here," whispered the demolition worker, as the vaguely female form limped into the light. He raced to her, full of adrenaline and guilt, and kneeled by her side. He had never seen a burn victim before, and, in the crush of the moment, he thought that the green scales on her skin, and her impossible clothes, were there because the fire had melted her somehow. As gently as he could, he picked her up and carried her to safety on the surface.

There was no medic on site, and it would take hours to summon a doctor, so the workers poured cold water on her, folded a jacket and placed it under her head, and hoped her skin was not causing her too much pain. After two hours, she woke again, more fully this time.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You're on the surface now," replied the man who found her. "We found you in the tunnel we were building. I didn't know you were there, I promise."

"Where are the others?"

The man gasped. He suddenly felt terrified, not of her, but of himself, of what he might have become. "There were no others," he whispered.

She sat up. Every muscle in her body was taut. "There were eleven others," she said.

The workers, who had come running when she showed signs of waking up, glanced at one another, then looked down at their feet. Finally the foreman said, "You were the only one. That area has been burning for hours now. I'm sorry."

"Sorry," she repeated back. You're sorry. You killed eleven of the bravest warriors this world has ever seen while they slept,. While they slept! And you're sorry." Her voice was growing softer now, and more sibilant. "I can promise you foolish apes, you will indeed be ssssssssorry."

A doctor did indeed arrive a couple hours later, but he discovered that, instead of attending to a female burn victim, he needed to notify the police and the morgue about the six dead demolition workers. He discovered one man still hanging to life, despite a broken back and neck. Before passing away, that man haltingly told a police inspector an impossible tale of a green monster who came out of the flames and killed them all. The inspector did not believe in monsters, but he did believe in murder, and he convinced his superiors to organize a manhunt for the Tunnel Killer.

For a week, she hid from them, in the small network that would become the London Underground. She ate rats, and drank whatever water she could find. Her body was starved from the long sleep, and it did not appreciate the diseased food she was giving it. She grew ill and weak, and knew she could not survive another fight.

Still, she was more skilled at hiding than the apes were at finding, and, as the hunt wore on, it gained the attention of the newspapers. The manhunt for the Tunnel Killer was now "The Search for the Tunnel Monster." One article printed an account of an unnamed eye witness, who reported a ten foot tall green lizard who breathed fire. It was this article that a traveler happened to read one London afternoon, just when he was about to leave town.

Below the surface, she knew she was about to die. The apes had brought dogs this time, and there were not enough tunnels to hide from them all. Her burned hand was now infected, and she was so very thirsty. She decided to stop running, and to kill as many apes as she could until her end came. But to her great humiliation, she found herself fighting the dogs, not the apes, and the dogs were winning.

Through the fog of her pain, she could hear the traveler shouting, "Stop stop stop!" until the police officers pulled away the dogs. Then he stood over her, as she bled onto the tunnel floor. She focused her diseased gaze on him, and said without thinking, "You are old."

The traveler smiled so boyishly she thought she must be wrong, and he replied teasingly, "Old? Me, old? You're a Silurian! How old are you, little girl?" Then he reached down, and gently stroked her head. As a last act of self-respect, she tried to kill this ape who dared to touch her, but she had lost too much blood, and passed out.

She awoke in a bed, with all her wounds tended to. After she got over the shock of being not-dead, she realized with even greater astonishment that her bed was flush with the floor of the room, and the heat of the room radiated from that same floor. It was the ideal setup for a cold-blooded reptilian body like hers, but far beyond the technology of the apes who had hunted her with weapons that propelled simple bullets. Frightened, she leapt to her feet, battle ready, but she could see no threat so she slowly relaxed. After a while, she carefuly checked under the dressing on her left hand. The infection was gone, and she might not even have a scar there soon.

More bemused than worried, she cautiously left "her" room, and explored the nearby hallway. The adjacent rooms all looked as though they were designed for humans; hers was the only one intended for her kind. This confounded her: how could a building be designed for multiple races? Almost in a trance, she opened another door, then leaped back, battle-ready again, when she saw the traveler.

He was seated, reading a book, while listening to music that she did not recognize, though it did not displease her ear. He raised his eyes to look at her, smiled and stood. "The little girl is awake! How are you feeling?"

She did not answer. Instead, she surveyed him, and the room, calculating. He was an ape, and yet, he was not. There was something different about him. The room looked like the central control of a facility, or the bridge of a ship. Very complex, but no visible weapons - either for him, or for her. Finally she said, "Why am I still alive?"

"I'm a doctor," he replied, and he started whirling around the room while he spoke. "In fact, I'm The Doctor, pleased to meet you. And who are you, little girl? You aren't actually little, and you aren't a girl, not even a lizard girl, though at one point you were a lizard girl, and little, but I don't think you like me calling you that, even though it's so much fun!" He stopped whirling right in front of her, and his impish smile was so broad now she almost smiled back. "So who are you really?"

They were now close enough to touch, but she did not feel threatened. Instead, she relaxed. Her body, which was now healed, but still dehydrated and famished, almost buckled under her, and she swayed until he caught her arm and steadied her. She pulled away, but not as hard as she could, and when he kept holding her up, she did not protest further. "Careful," he said, "you haven't used your body for a long time. Silurian sleep pod, amazing technology, but it does give you the munchies. Time stasis is so much more civilized." He turned to the control console in the center of the room. "Could we have something she can eat, put it by her bed?" He paused for a moment, as if listening to something she couldn't hear, then started guiding her back to her room.

"Doctor," she said, and he looked at her. "I am Vastra. I had a title, but the ones who gave me that title are asleep. Or perhaps they are all dead."

The Doctor shook his head. "Not all the Silurians are dead. I know thousands who are waiting until humanity is more advanced. But let's get you back in bed, Vastra. Little Vastra," he taunted, almost giggling, and scampered away from her as she glared at him.

There was a large bottle of fresh blood beside her bed, which she drank frantically, not pausing for breath. The Doctor looked away while she did this, clearly uncomfortable, but when she was done he handed her a handkerchief, which she used to wipe her lips.

"Where are we?" she asked him. He smiled and said, "Sleep first. That was probably your first real food in quite a while." Vastra realized he was right, that her body was begging for torpor, so she curled up in her floorbed and closed her eyes.

When Vastra awoke, the Doctor was gone. And he appeared to be really gone, because she started exploring the complex, and could not find him anywhere. She did, however, find a swimming pool, with water heated to a temperature ideal for Silurian comfort. This baffled her, because it was a temperature that would scald apes.

She found the control room again, though strangely, it did not seem to be in the same place it had been before. In the control room was an exterior door, which she cautiously reached for. But before she could open it, the door was flung open from the other side by the Doctor, who dove in, screaming, then slammed the door behind him.

Briefly, through the open door, Vastra had seen gigantic metal creatures chasing the Doctor. She assumed it was them banging against the door now, because the control room started to shake and the walls started to clang. Just then, she noticed the Doctor was injured. His left pant leg had been burnt off, and he was hopping around the control panel on his right foot.

The Doctor saw her looking at his leg, and waved dismissively. "Don't worry. Primitive mechanoids. Easy to heal the damage. More importantly, it's easy to disable them with a magnetic pulse." He pulled a lever on the console, there was a low hum, and the clanging and shaking stopped.

The Doctor hopped to the exterior door, and opened it enough to pop his head out but not enough to show his injuries. Vastra overheard a conversation she could not see, in which several people thanked the Doctor for saving their lives, and he gave them pointers to defend themselves against the mechanoids in the future. Then someone asked him to attend a feast they would prepare in his honor, and the Doctor replied, "A feast? I love feasts! Let me just get my feast toothbrush. It's twice the size of my regular toothbrush." Then he closed the door, hopped to the console, pulled a lever, and leaned heavily against a railing.

Vastra watched the Doctor for a moment as the room around her made a wheezing noise she had never heard before. He looked back at her, his head cocked to one side. "Yes?" he asked, his grin returning, despite the pain in his leg.

"It cannot be true," said Vastra, "but I believe that if I were to open that door, those people you were talking to would not be there anymore. How is that possible?"

This made the Doctor clap his hands and laugh. "Very good, my not-so-little Vastra! You are too wise to be little. You had a title that is long gone? How about a title that anyone can give you, anytime? Lady Vastra! Venerable Vastra! Madame Vastra!" He grinned again, though he winced this time.

Vastra helped the Doctor to a room with a recliner, and they continued talking once he had reclined and fitted himself with a boot that she realized must be some form of medical apparatus. Vastra was deep in thought, and, though she was talking to the Doctor, she was looking inside herself, or at the ceiling or the wall. "You saved the lives of those people, the way you saved my life," she said, not really a question.

"I suppose I did," said the Doctor. "Didn't have anything else to do on a Wednesday."

"You are old," said Vastra. "I thought I was wrong, but now I believe I was right about that. Have you been doing this for a long time?"

The Doctor squirmed a bit on the recliner. "Not all the time, no. And only on Wednesdays!" He changed the subject. "You're on my ship. It's the most amazing ship in the universe! It can even travel in time. Would you like me to take you to the future, when other Silurians are waking up?"

Vastra looked at the floor, and spoke very quietly. "I am deeply shamed, Doctor. There were apes - humans - who saved my life, and I slaughtered them all. They were unarmed, and trying to help me. I do not deserve to be on the ship of one who saves lives."

"I was wondering about that," said the Doctor. "Why did you kill them?"

"They had killed my brothers and sisters in the sleep pod with their explosion," replied Vastra. She was still talking quietly, but now she met his gaze, as though making eye contact was her first punishment. "But they did not know the sleep pod was there. They even apologized, and I ended their lives anyway."

"Well then," said the Doctor, also speaking very quietly, "what do you think I should do with you?"

"If you don't mind, Sir Doctor," said Vastra, "please take me back to where you found me. I must protect the humans, the way you protected me."

The Doctor looked at her for a long time, then smiled broadly. "Madame Vastra," he exclaimed, clapping his hands together, "I am very glad I saved your life!"


	2. Chapter 2: Please

**II. Please**

The Doctor set Vastra up with a small flat and a job as a private investigator whose primary client was the London police. She moved through the city wearing a veil, and on the rare occasion someone saw her unveiled, she explained that she was burned in an accident and a brilliant doctor saved her life, but could not save her face. Vastra was a superb detective, and she quickly developed a reputation for solving difficult cases.

The most difficult cases often involved the Chinese gangs, or Tongs. Part of the reason Vastra was so successful with these cases was that she sympathized with the Tongs. She had awoken from her sleep pod with a knowledge of English, because the pod had programmed her subconsciously to be able to speak the language that was geographically nearest to her sleeping place. But learning other ape languages was difficult for her, and she knew what it was like to be alone in a city, an outsider for your entire life.

Eventually, Vastra took a case that was different. After tailing a Tong member every night for a week, Vastra discovered that this Tong had made an alliance with an extraterrestrial scout ship. The scouts' weaponry was advanced far beyond anything Vastra could command in the 19th century, so that night, at home after dinner, she picked up a small device, pressed one of its buttons, and raised it to her ear.

"Do you know why I love time travel, not-so-little Vastra?" exclaimed the Doctor's voice into Vastra's ear. "It's because a prehistoric squamata is calling me in Victorian England with a 21st century cell phone!" The Doctor sounded as though he had been chuckling nonstop since the last time they had seen each other. Vastra found herself smiling, the most she had smiled since waking up in the sleep pod, as she told the traveler with the chuckling voice about the extraterrestrial scouts.

The Doctor materialized his blue ship inside Vastra's flat, and, over the next four days, the two of them solved the case, and obtained an agreement from the scouts to stay away from earth for the next 200 years. While it was dangerous for both of them, Vastra almost felt as though things had to resolve the way they did, because the Doctor was involved, and when he was around, it seemed, everything worked out right. There was one evening, though, that turned this particular case into the most important one of her life.

This case had initially come to the attention of the London police two weeks earlier, because the Tong was harassing the girls and women who worked at a match factory. Conditions in the factory were already poor, and the extraterrestrials needed extra phosphorus for one of their machines. The scouts sent the Chinese gangsters into the factory for the phosphorus, and the gangsters decided to help themselves to the women working there. The police decided to stop the "foreigners" from harassing proper English women. For the first two days, Vastra led the Doctor to her contacts among the Tongs. They learned that many in the Chinese community were afraid of the behavior of the new Tong, and wanted it to stop. But no one knew where to look for the Tong leadership.

Then, on the third night of their investigation, the Doctor and Vastra walked up to the front gate of this match factory, just before its 6pm closing time. The Doctor showed the security guard a psychic paper that identified him as a police inspector. Soon, the plant manager appeared, and let them into the grounds. He was a harsh, sallow-faced man, who complained bitterly about the Chinese. He also focused his attention entirely on the man - the Doctor - and Vastra was soon able to slip away, and wander around the factory.

Wandering about the factory was easy because no one was willing to stop her. Vastra tried talking with several workers - some quite young, others clearly ape adults - but none would say anything to her other than "Good evening Ma'am." And then she spoke to a young ape woman with dark black hair.

"Good evening," said Vastra, in her harsh but polished voice.

"Yes, it's almost evening, Ma'am," replied the black-haired ape, without looking at Vastra. Like the other match workers, this one was cautiously dipping small sticks into a cauldron of phosphorus, one at a time, then setting them aside.

Vastra smiled behind her veil. "Yet you aren't sure whether it's good. You inject personality into a simple greeting. I haven't seen many do that in this town."

"I reckon it's because of the girls I've seen with the green jaw, Ma'am," replied the ape. "Been here a month, and I don't plan to stay much longer. The phos here, it makes your mouth glow if you stand over it too long. It'd almost be a blessing if I got let go."

"Ten days ago, some men came here and stole phos, as you call it," said Vastra. "Were you here then?"

The ape stopped working, and looked down at her hands, which were suddenly very still. "Yes, Ma'am."

"Did you see the men?"

"Yes Ma'am."

Vastra drew closer, her eyes focused on the young woman's face. "Did the men see you?"

The ape answered quietly, "Yes, Ma'am, they did."

Just as quietly, Vastra asked, "What is your name, brave girl?"

"Jenny, Ma'am. My name is Jenny Flint."

"Then listen to me, Jenny Flint," said Vastra. "I will want you to tell me about what happened when the men saw you, but I don't want you to think about that now. Right now, I want you to tell me about what happened afterward. Where did they go?"

Jenny twisted her hands together, angry with herself. "I don't know, Ma'am. And I'm not brave. Once they let me be, I didn't want to follow them, so I'm no help."

Vastra reached out and gently separated Jenny's gnarled hands. Jenny's face snapped up to meet Vastra, and she took a step back and put her hands behind her. But she grew visibly calmer.

"I intend to find those men," Vastra said. "Anything you could tell me about them, no matter how small, would be a kindness."

"There is something, Ma'am," said Jenny. "I remember thinking it odd at... the time. One of the men, he was bigger than the rest, and he didn't seem interested in me at all. Not that all men should be interested in me, I'm not saying that. To be honest, I'd rather no men were interested in me. Oh heavens, listen to me prattle. I'm being no help." She started twisting her hands again.

"What was different about the man?" asked Vastra.

Jenny paused, thinking back. "He was bigger, like I said, and he didn't touch any of the girls. And I don't think he was Chinese. He looked like the rest of them, but when he talked, I don't know, I could almost understand it. It sounded like Chinese English, not Chinese Chinese." She frowned, perplexed. "No, I said that wrong. It didn't sound like English neither. It was something else."

Before Vastra could ask another question, a loud whistle sounded that shook the whole factory. Vastra jumped, but Jenny didn't. "It's the end of the shift, Ma'am," said Jenny, smiling a bit. She had enjoyed seeing Vastra jump. "Would you like me to show you someplace to hide, Ma'am? We don't have to leave just because everyone else is."

Now it was Vastra's turn to smile - a smile of joy and predation. "I would consider that a precious gift, Jenny Flint."

So they hid. Thirty minutes later they began creeping around the factory, and Jenny guided Vastra to the manager's office. Then she stood in the corner, her brown eyes growing larger and larger as Vastra searched every inch of the office.

Eventually, Jenny whispered, "You've done this before, Ma'am."

"Remain silent, brave ape," whispered Vastra, without looking up from the ledger she was skimming.

Jenny opened her mouth and started to say something, but stopped herself when Vastra looked up and met her gaze. Jenny could tell, even though Vastra's veil, that this wasn't a time to disobey.

After a few minutes with the ledger, Vastra looked at Jenny again. "Can you read, Jenny Flint?"

"No Ma'am. I know some of the alphabet, but not all the way through." Jenny started twisting her hands again. "Not good for much, Ma'am, not me."

Suddenly Vastra was standing before her, and in the same moment a slap from her right hand separated Jenny's two. The slap was not rough, but it was not the gentle touch Vastra had used previously. This was the first time Jenny had seen how fast a Silurian warrior could move, and while she still thought Vastra was a human woman, a primitive instinct told her she was facing something deadly and powerful.

Vastra's voice was sibilant. "Brave ape Jenny Flint, you will not ssssspeak poorly of yourssssself." She was much taller than Jenny, and her nose was only an inch away from Jenny's nose, so her eyes locked with Jenny's commandingly.

Jenny was more confused than she had ever been in her life. She felt simultaneously terrified and safe, and she had no idea what to do. She wanted to scream and flee but she also wanted to curl into Vastra's lap like a child. So she did nothing: pressed her back against the wall, transfixed, mouth hanging open, perfectly silent.

It was Vastra who stepped back, in order to glance about the factory to ensure they had not been discovered. All appeared quiet, so she walked back to the desk with the ledger. She tapped the page she had been reading. "It is clear from these records, Jenny Flint, that this factory was selling phosphorus to someone, but they delivered less phosphorus than they sold."

Jenny still could not say or do anything, but she closed her mouth.

Vastra sat behind the desk and steepled her hands together. "What do you think of that?" she asked.

Jenny swallowed, then swallowed again. "Do you mean, Ma'am, like a butcher who sells a pound of meat but only gives you ten ounces?"

Vastra smiled, and the smile was all joy this time. "My, but you are a clever ape," she said. "Yes, exactly like that. It appears the theft of phosphorus was an attempt to retrieve a product already owed." Vastra flipped to the next page and frowned. "It also appears the thieves were not fully successful. I wonder if they will come back."

And back they came. There was a crashing sound as one of the walls of the factory gave way. This time, Jenny jumped while Vastra did not. Jenny jumped toward Vastra, which a part of her mind thought so very strange, because she was terrified of the veiled woman. Vastra was moving fast again. She unsheathed a two-foot steel blade she had carried beneath her skirts, and she guided Jenny behind the desk, then pressed her under it.

"You will hide here, Jenny Flint, until I return for you," said Vastra.

"There's something different this time, Ma'am," said Jenny quietly, curling herself into a tiny ball under the desk.

"What?" demanded Vastra.

"I just saw them for a moment before you grabbed me, but I think there are more of the big men this time. The men who don't speak Chinese."

Vastra hissed. Offworlders, and she had no idea what technology they wielded. She slinked to the office window, which oversaw the factory floor. She saw four men with a pump and large plastic pipes. They all looked as though they were from Earth. They were starting to pump phosphorus out of the factory vats. Vastra also saw four larger men with handheld sensor devices, probably scanning for life forms, because they suddenly pointed directly to the manager's office and started running toward it - toward her and Jenny.

Vastra dove and rolled out the office door, then ran, crouching, toward the other side of the factory floor. She wanted to encourage the offworlders to split their forces, so only two would chase her. Vastra was successful: two of the large men pursued her, while two others ran toward the office and Jenny. The large men were armed with energy pistols, and Vastra dove behind a phosphorous vat, barely avoiding a pistol blast that burned a hole in the wall beside her.

There were three Tong members at this vat, and they attacked Vastra. They carried clubs, but lacked formal training in their use, so Vastra quickly killed them all. She slit the throats of two and disemboweled the third. Her clothes were now covered in blood, and she had thrown aside her veil to see better, so her reptilian features were unmistakable. The two offworlders who had been pursuing her stopped moving closer, but kept her pinned behind the vat with pistol blasts.

Meanwhile, the two who had run toward the office burst into it, and quickly found Jenny under the desk. They roughly pulled her into view, and yelled a few sentences at her in machine-translated Chinese. Jenny didn't understand, and said nothing. The two offworlders looked at each other, then looked back at Jenny, and one raised a pistol to her head.

Jenny knew she was about to die. Once again, she was terrified. But this was a bad terrified, not like before, when she had felt safe also. She wanted to run and run and disappear. She screamed inside herself, without opening her mouth, "Please!"

Vastra heard Jenny's scream inside her mind with such force that her knees buckled. She looked toward the office, but there was no way she could get there without being incinerated by the energy pistols. "I am sorry, brave ape," she whispered to herself.

Suddenly there was a flash of white light that filled the factory, and the Doctor was there. Vastra couldn't follow everything that happened, but the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to disable the power sources of the energy pistols, then started talking very fast about the need to respect the Shadow Proclamation on a Level Five planet. For the moment, at least, the hostilities were over.

Vastra sprinted to the office, and found Jenny rocking back and forth on her knees, holding herself tightly. Vastra moved close, slowly, then put a hand under Jenny's left armpit. "You will stand up, Jenny Flint," commanded Vastra, and lifted her to her feet.

Jenny stood, then meekly followed Vastra when Vastra turned, left the office, and walked up to the Doctor. The Doctor was deep in coversation with the offworld leader, but he whirled to face them. "Madame Vastra!" shouted the Doctor, clapping his hands just as he had months ago. "These poor scouts are stranded, and they need phosphorus to get off the planet."

"Indeed, Doctor?" replied Vastra. "They did not choose their human allies well, then."

"Yes," said the Doctor. "They are apologizing about that. I understand some of their employees didn't treat the women well the last time they were here. This time, they came themselves, and they didn't want any witnesses. They didn't expect to meet other nonhumans." One of the large men said something in a language only the Doctor understood, and the Doctor nodded agreement.

Jenny spoke up, surprising everyone, including herself. "Madame Vastra? Are you hurt?"

Vastra turned, quizzical, then she noticed Jenny was staring at her bodice, and said soothingly, "No, Jenny Flint. That blood is not mine. I am healthy."

"It's their blood, then?" asked Jenny, jerking a thumb toward the men Vastra had killed, who were sprawled by a phosphorus vat.

"Yes," said Vastra. She put her arms on Jenny's shoulders, and tried to move her so she could no longer see the corpses. But Jenny pulled away from her, and took a step toward the bodies. She pointed to one.

"I remember him, Ma'am," she said. "I remember his earring. It was very close to me while... the other day."

Vastra put her hands on Jenny's shoulders again, and guided her away from the dead Tong members. Jenny did not resist this time. The two walked back to where the Doctor and the offworlder leader were negotiating. They sat and waited while the negotiations proceeded in a language they did not understand.

After a while, Jenny turned to face Vastra. "There's something I don't understand, Ma'am."

Vastra smirked, expecting Jenny to ask about her scaly face. "And what is that, brave ape?"

"In the office," said Jenny, "when I thought I was going to die, I was afraid. And when I was afraid, it felt as though I was able to talk to you, even though you weren't there. What happened?"

It was Vastra's turn to look away, and put her hands together. She composed herself quickly and met Jenny's wondering gaze.

"I do not know, Jenny Flint," said Vastra. "It is a gift of my kind, but it only occurs between two who have known each other for years. I have heard many stories, but I never felt contact like that myself, until today. I do not understand it."

"Your kind?" asked Jenny. "You mean green people?"

Vastra laughed out loud. "Yes, clever ape. I do indeed mean green people."

"Is that why you call me an ape, Ma'am? Because I'm not green?"

Vastra laughed again. "True, Jenny Flint, you are not green. But you are brave and clever. You helped us tonight. Not bad work for one who is not green."

Jenny smiled, but then wiped the smile from her face as she thought of something else. "Work," she muttered. "I can't come back to this place tomorrow, I don't think."

Vastra stood up, and held Jenny's hands within her own. "No, Jenny Flint, you cannot come to this factory tomorrow to work, because starting tomorrow you will be working for me."

"Ma'am?" asked Jenny, astonished.

"I need a maid, Jenny Flint," said Vastra. "But more importantly, I need an assistant, someone with a sharp mind who can help me in my work. Whatever the factory is paying you, I will pay you more. But there is something you will have to do while working for me."

"What's that, Ma'am?"

"You must learn to read, clever ape," said Vastra.

"Oh Ma'am," breathed Jenny, and she began to cry. "Thank you, thank you," she sobbed, and she reached out for Vastra's left leg, and started to bury her face in Vastra's skirts.

Vastra's skirts were still full of Tong blood. Vastra quickly lifted her skirts and whipped them out of the way. Underneath, she was wearing tight velvet trousers and ankle-high flat leather boots. Jenny pressed her sobbing face against Vastra's left trouser leg, and her tears soaked into the velvet. Jenny released the pressure of days; she cried and cried, her rib cage convulsing, her arms wrapped fiercely around Vastra's left calf, while Vastra patted her head awkwardly. The Doctor and the offworlders glanced their direction, then moved further away and continued negotiating.

Finally, Jenny quieted, then suddenly jerked back, as she realized what she was doing. She glanced up at Vastra, frightened, then put her hands in her lap and looked at the floor.

"Stand up, Jenny Flint," commanded Vastra.

Jenny stood, then, very slowly, raised her eyes to meet Vastra's.

"I was glad to comfort you, Jenny Flint," said Vastra, gently. "But you do not have to kneel before me like a slave. I am not an emperor."

Jenny wiped her face, rubbed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "Yes Ma'am," she said. "I understand."

"But?" asked Vastra, cocking her head to one side.

"There's no but, Ma'am. I want to work for you, no but about it, Ma'am. It's just that..." and her voice trailed off. Vastra growled, and Jenny snapped to attention. "It's just that if you wanted me to say thank you again, I wouldn't mind, Ma'am."

Vastra laughed loudly, more deeply than before. She stared at this tiny, brown-eyed creature who didn't seem to fear anything. On a whim, she swatted Jenny's backside, causing her to yelp and then smile. "You may be allowed to say thank you again, later, Jenny Flint," said Vastra. "But first, you must work very hard, and say please."


	3. Chapter 3: Hunt

**III. Hunt**

Jenny did not say thank you again for a long time. Both she and Vastra were busy, but that was not the real reason. Jenny had dressed her Madame many times after Madame's baths, and had ample opportunity to touch Vastra's lithe body in an unprofessional way. Each time she was tempted, she stopped herself, afraid - not afraid of Vastra, but of the men who had helped themselves to her on the factory floor.

Vastra did not understand this completely, but she knew something was amiss, and she was too wise a leader to issue an order her subordinate could not follow. So she built a routine where the pair did almost everything together, but in a non-friendly, impersonal way. They ate meals together, but the purpose of eating was to be not-hungry, rather than to enjoy the food. Vastra taught Jenny to read, but the purpose of reading was to be a better detective's assistant, not to enjoy books. Vastra trained Jenny to fight, but the purpose of the training was to survive, not to enjoy how their bodies moved.

Vastra was a strict taskmistress. When Jenny did not perform to expectations - especially if her reading level or fighting ability disappointed - Vastra would beat her. These beatings were infrequent, perhaps once a month, and the marks from them never lasted longer than a day. Jenny did not enjoy the beatings, but after about six months, she realized something that made her stagger and catch her breath in her throat. Vastra had never beaten her, and had never even scolded her, about doing things that inconvenienced Vastra. Vastra had only ever struck her when she did something that was bad for Jenny. Bad for herself. Braced against a wall, panting, Jenny thought about all the times she had accomplished something she thought impossible because Vastra had demanded it.

The next morning, after breakfast, Jenny began reading the day's newspaper to Vastra, according to their routine. Vastra smiled when Jenny wasn't looking, thinking how much of a struggle the brown-eyed ape had with the newspaper six months ago, and how smoothly she was reading now.

Once Jenny was done, she folded the paper into fourths, and tapped the back of it. "There's one more story to read, Ma'am," she said.

"Very well," said Vastra, preoccupied. She was sifting through her memory of the previous stories Jenny had read, trying to connect them to cases she was working on.

Jenny started to read again, then stopped. Vastra glanced at Jenny, surprised. She had thought Jenny's days of reading haltingly were over.

What Vastra saw made her even more surprised. Jenny's face was red as a beet, and her eyes were tightly shut. She was pretending to read, but there was no way she could see any letters on the page. "It reads, Ma'am - it reads - that this morning Jenny Flint said thank you to her lady Madame Vastra, and that - and that - saying thanks took the rest of the day."

Then Jenny opened her eyes and locked her gaze with Vastra's, though her face was even redder now. Her voice full of longing, Jenny croaked, "Please."

Vastra stared at Jenny, mouth agape. Then she began to cry, silently. Jenny saw a tear flow down Vastra's emerald cheek, and she began to cry too, but less silently. Tentatively, she reached toward the seated Vastra's leg, and, when Vastra did not pull away, Jenny kneeled before her, sobbing, kissing Vastra's knee again and again while saying thank you.

Vastra reached down and delicately cradled Jenny's face in her palms. She tilted Jenny's head upward so the two made eye contact. "My brave, brave ape," she said, "you are so very welcome." Jenny buried her head in Vastra's lap, and held her waist tightly. They stayed like this for several minutes. Vastra stroked Jenny's hair and rocked her, while humming a Silurian children's song in an untrained voice.

Then Jenny leaned back and stretched, and gazed up at Vastra again. Now it was Jenny who looked predatory, as though breakfast had not been satisfying, and she planned to eat Vastra for lunch. Jenny stood up and reached for Vastra's bosom, but Vastra raised a hand to stop her.

"You have drawn my bath water, and dressed me after bathing many times, Jenny Flint," said Vastra. "You have seen and touched much of my body. And yet, in all these months we have lived together, I have never seen you without your dress. If you would thank me, thank me truly, do me the courtesy to let me see you as you truly are."

Jenny nodded, and, without looking away from Vastra, she undid and stepped out of her clothes. Vastra stepped forward and picked up the nude Jenny, then turned and faced the bedroom.

"You will share my bed today, clever ape," said Vastra. "I believe the newspaper article said you would be there all day, is that right?" Jenny nodded, eyes wide. Vastra smiled and nodded curtly. "Good," she said, and carried Jenny to bed. Jenny tilted her head and kissed the strong scaled shoulder of the Silurian who carried her. She had never felt so happy.

A few hours later, Vastra stroked Jenny's hair, smiling. Jenny was lying on her back, covered in sweat, exhausted. She opened her eyes when she heard Vastra chuckling.

"Ma'am?"

"I never thought I would say this, Jenny Flint," said Vastra, "but you have made me jealous of the apes. Almost."

Surprised, Jenny brought herself back into focus, and propped herself up on her left elbow. "How do you mean jealous, Ma'am?"

"The way you responded when I touched you. Touched you here," and she did something under the bedcovers that made Jenny gasp and bite her lip, "it is unlike the females of my kind. I believe you must be very similar to a male mammal, because you release in a similar way."

"I'm sorry, Ma'am," Jenny said timidly. "I don't mean to be not your kind. I'd turn green if I knew how."

Vastra laughed loudly, and squeezed Jenny close. "You wild, darling ape," she said, "you are already green where it matters."

"You mean it Ma'am?" asked Jenny. The she could not talk for a while as Vastra kissed her.

When the kiss was over, Jenny sat up, and said, in a much louder voice, "Hold on then!"

"What is it, Jenny Flint?"

"Are you saying," demanded Jenny, "that, no matter how I touch you, you can't feel the way you made me feel?"

Vastra sat up too, and tucked some of Jenny's hair behind her ear. "Yes, clever ape, that is exactly what I am saying. Females of my kind do not release the way males do. It was never needed, and my people are a bit more efficient than yours."

"Well that ain't fair," growled Jenny. She was angry now. "Here I am, hoping for a lot of these - releases - with you, and I can't give you a single one."

"Why do you think I said I was jealous?" asked Vastra, smiling. "But you give me so many other things."

Jenny grabbed Vastra's hand and held it tightly. "Ma'am? Madame Vastra?" she asked. "Tell me a secret. Tell me something I've never done for you. Something that would please you and please you and please you."

Vastra paused, contemplating. Then she replied, "I'll tell you two secrets, something you can do for me, and something you can't." Jenny nodded, eyes wide. "The first secret is that no one has cleaned my crests for many years. I do it myself, of course, but it is not the same. The peaks and furrows of my skin - the highest and lowest points - are where I am most sensitive. Perhaps you could touch me there sometime."

Jenny nodded, brought Vastra's hand to her lips, and kissed it.

"The second secret," continued Vastra, "isn't really a secret at all. I'm sure you already know. I love the hunt. My blood courses when I hunt, more than any other activity. Even more than this time with you, brave ape. I am a warrior from a harsher age, and my body is built for pursuit, not passion."

"Thank you for telling me, Ma'am," said Jenny. She was deep in thought. Vastra got out of bed, left the room, then returned with two mugs of water.

"Don't get used to this, Jenny Flint," said Vastra sternly, as she handed Jenny a mug. "But you looked thirsty."

"No Ma'am. Thank you, Ma'am," said Jenny, and she drank the water hurriedly. Then she looked up at Vastra, and her face became mischievous. "Please lie on the bed. On your stomach, Ma'am."

Curious to see what would happen, Vastra obeyed. Jenny straddled Vastra's back, then leaned over and kissed the top of her head. There followed an awkward dance, where Jenny tried to massage Vastra's crests, but she didn't do it well, and Vastra put up with it because she didn't want to discourage Jenny from trying.

But as Jenny gained confidence, she started to press more firmly, and she eventually wrapped her arms around Vastra's shoulders and started to nip Vastra's crests with her teeth. Vastra's upper body shivered with genuine pleasure, and Jenny, emboldened by this, began to nip, and then bite, harder. She cried out victoriously, "I'm making love to the back of a lizard head!" Vastra grinned when she heard this, then gave herself back to the pleasure.

After a few minutes, Jenny lifted at Vastra's right side, encouraging Vastra to flip over onto her back, which she did. Vastra gazed up into Jenny's face. Jenny looked ravenous, and also looked extremely pleased with herself. Then Jenny grabbed Vastra in a delicate place, and twisted, hard. This broke the mood, and Vastra gasped in shock, both from the pain, and from the emotional shift.

"Oops," said Jenny. "I'm such a bad crest-nipper. I guess you'll have to hunt me down if you want revenge." Then she slapped Vastra's right hip as hard as she could, and scurried out of the room.

Vastra lay in her bed, astonished. She had not realized she cared for the ape as much as she did. And part of the reason she cared so much was because this barely educated, barely trained ape could see things that the much older Vastra did not, the latest example being this hunting game. In wonderment, Vastra realized that there was nothing in the world she wanted more than to hunt Jenny Flint.

Jenny interrupted Vastra's reverie by popping back into the room to throw a piece of kindling at Vastra's head. "Too tired to get out of bed, are you?" taunted Jenny. Vastra caught the piece of kindling, then jumped out of bed and hissed. Jenny's face changed, from mischievous to "Uh oh," and she turned and ran from the bedroom as fast as she could.

The flat was small, and there was nowhere to hide, not really. Jenny pretended by diving behind chairs, and under the dining table. Vastra stayed at a distance, and struck Jenny with her long tongue, much as a human might use a whip. After each tongue strike, Jenny would cry out in pain, then fight back with her words, shouting things like, "Is that the best you can do, Ma'am?" and, "That feels like a soft ape tongue, Ma'am!"

Once Jenny had led Vastra through every room in the flat, Vastra pounced on Jenny, and held her so tight she couldn't move. "My tongue secretes venom," Vastra whispered in Jenny's ear. "I have tried to swallow the venom, so it does not affect you. Tell me whether I was successful."

Jenny thought, then said, "I don't feel no poison, Ma'am. It just feels like a lot of slaps."

"Are you afraid, Jenny Flint?"

"No, Ma'am," replied Jenny. "I'm not afraid at all."

"You might want to change that," growled Vastra, and she threw Jenny over her shoulder and carried her, upside down, to the bedroom.

Vastra threw Jenny onto the bed, forced her to lie on her stomach, and stood back to admire the view. Then she hissed and flicked her tongue out, again and again, until Jenny was thoroughly punished.

Jenny had lost the ability to sass back after the tongue strikes, and she was just making low moans into the bedcovers. Then Vastra extended her tongue gently to the part of Jenny's body that contained the most flavors, and Jenny started moaning more loudly. Soon Jenny found release for the second time that day.

Vastra came over to the bed, and cradled Jenny in her arms. "My clever, clever ape," she said. "I never imagined that my desire to hunt and kill could become something beautiful like this."

Jenny snuggled into Vastra's chest. She was very tired. She pulled Vastra's left hand to her lips and talked to it. "Don't be foolish, Ma'am," she said in a muffled voice. "You're beautiful. And you and me together, well, we ain't exactly ugly."

"No, Jenny Flint," replied Vastra, "ugly we are not."


End file.
